Archives for April 2011

After my Chin Ups are Insane Fun post this week, something crystallized for me: Many people had not considered the possibility of doing a chin up. It’s not that you hadn’t thought about that level of back and arm strength; it’s more that you didn’t think about you having it. As I said in my post, I was actually surprised I could do a few chin ups when I tried it last fall. Did I really just hoist my bodyweight {Read More…}

Do you imagine what it would feel like to pull your body straight up in the air over a specified point? Ah, the glory and addiction of pursuing chin ups and pull ups. They’re a good measure of functional upper body strength and have a bit of status attached to them – and with good reason! If you can do unassisted pull ups or chin ups then you’ve been working very hard to develop your back muscles. Not only that, {Read More…}

Many of you are looking for new weights routines and ask what I do. To focus on the great results I’ve seen in the last few months, I wanted to share a few of the routines I’ve been doing. I change my reps, sets, weight, and exercise order frequently and change my exercises every two months. I find this keeps my muscles challenged and boredom at bay. I love starting new routines! I’ll be creating new ones in the next {Read More…}

You met a major goal in the past year: You lost a lot of weight, you got back into working out, you changed your diet, you ran a marathon. It is life changing and glorious to have accomplished something big. But how about that under-the-surface gnawing you feel right now? Is this where you’re going to stop? How long has it been since you reassessed where you are? If you’re not still growing in your fitness or diet goals then {Read More…}

You’ve probably heard the term “functional training” used by fitness professionals, gyms, and the media for everything from explosive power movements to yoga. It’s a recent catch phrase that has many different interpretations and can be confusing as to how it relates to weight training. Some might even wonder if they should scrap their traditional weight lifting routine in favor of functional training. According to the American Council on Exercise, functional strength training enhances the performance of movements so that {Read More…}

When I strained my back a couple of months ago, I figured I could still work out and just “take it easy.” You know – “back off.” This is actually called denial, because when you’re used to pushing it, it’s very difficult to do something with less intensity. The intensity is the fun part. My back is better, but it took much longer to heal while continuing weights. And while I’m not advocating continuing to exercise when you have an {Read More…}